Teachers and differentiated instruction: exploring differentiation practices to address student diversity

Abstract

Given the increasing diversity of the student body, teachers are called to appropriately address students' various learning needs by means of differentiated instruction (DI). However, empirical research has yielded mixed evidence on teachers' reported use of DI. Using nationally representative data from the National Educational Panel Study in Germany, this article aimed to explore German (as native language) and Mathematics teachers' use of DI practices. In addition, this study took into consideration contextual factors, such as school track, and investigated the impact of teachers' constructivist beliefs on their DI implementation. Results from a mixed analysis of covariance indicated that teachers occasionally implement DI practices. Furthermore, between-subject effects reported differences across school tracks. It appears that advanced secondary school teachers implement less often DI practices. The covariate of teachers' constructivist beliefs was also positively linked to overall teachers' implementation of DI. Implications of the results, as well as further lines of research are discussed. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Was wissen wir über schulische Lehr-Lern-Prozesse im Distanzunterricht während der Corona-Pandemie? – Evidenz aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz

“…( 2020 ) wurde die Taxonomie der Binnendifferenzierung nach Pozas et al. ( 2020 ) eingesetzt. In diesen wenigen Studien ist es daher möglich im Rahmen der Datenauswertung für den Messfehler zu kontrollieren.…”

Being the Teacher of Syrian Refugee Students: Teachers’ School Experiences

“…Jafari Kuzu ve diğerleri (2018) de Türkiye'deki çalışmalarında, kimi öğretmenlerin öğrenci merkezli çalışmalara derslerde yer verdiklerini, bir kısım öğretmenin ise bu konuda çalışma yapmadığını bildirmiştir. Çok sayıdaki çalışmada, ortalamaya göre yapılan eğitimin yararlı olmadığı, öğretimin farklılaştırılmasının öğrencilerin akademik başarısını, tutumunu ve motivasyonunu olumlu etkilediği belirtilmektedir (Rose, 2017;Pham, 2012;Pozas, Letzel ve Schneider, 2019). Amerika'da yapılan bir çalışma ise farklılaştırılmış öğretimi benimseyen öğretmenlerin mesleki yeterlik inancı bakımından meslektaşlarından pozitif yönde farklılaştıklarını bildirmektedir (Dixon, Yssel, McConnell ve Hardin, 2014).…”

Validity Evidence for the Revised Classroom Practices Survey: An Instrument to Measure Teachers’ Differentiation Practices

“…Teachers’ use of differentiated instruction has also been addressed in the literature with studies focusing on how often teachers use differentiated instruction (e.g., Archambault et al, 1993; Moon et al, 1995; Pozas et al, 2020; Suprayogi et al, 2017), factors affecting such use (e.g., King, 2010; Suprayogi et al, 2017), and their perceptions of differentiated instruction (King, 2010; Santangelo & Tomlinson, 2012). Archambault et al (1993) and Moon et al (1995) are the most recent publications reporting on how often teachers in the United States differentiate instruction with nationally representative samples.…”

“…Archambault et al (1993) and Moon et al (1995) are the most recent publications reporting on how often teachers in the United States differentiate instruction with nationally representative samples. Pozas et al (2020) conducted a national survey of teachers in Germany and found that tiered assignments and ability grouping were among differentiation strategies most frequently used. Suprayogi et al (2017) found that teachers in Indonesia implement differentiation to a great extent ( M = 7.31 on a 10-point scale) and that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs with regard to differentiation and constructivist teaching beliefs as well as classroom size were associated with teachers’ use of differentiation.…”